Discussion on Papers 4–7

M. SMITH, Swiss Federal Office of Transport. Bern, Switzerland

Mr Lalaurie mentioned and emphasized the fact that the typical French client likes a lump sum contract. Does this mean that the incidence of contractors becoming insolvent is higher than elsewhere?

(Apparently lump sum in France is limited to +/- 10%,

i.e. it is not a lump sum in the UK context). Also, does this mean that large contractors predominate?

Mr Haensel stated that the VOB is not a legal document, but only a recommendation. What is the status of the document?

A. LEGGATT, CEDICf Farnham

My experience shows different attitudes in the UK and (say) France when a problem arises on site. In the UK, the consulting engineer is called to site and the contractor takes a passive role but undertakes to carry out any instructions the engineer may give. In France, the contractor takes a positive action and is already solving the problem when the engineer arrives. The French contractor seems to feel a greater responsibility to get the job back on the rails than his British counterpart.